The gender is literally in the "job description".Whose description though?It's literally like the third thing on the stat block.
Right after name and CR, and right before race, class, and level.:)
So are you arguing that sex and gender are the same thing, or are you claiming that the stat blocks are describing the gender but not the sex of the character in question?
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So are you arguing that sex and gender are the same thing, or are you claiming that the stat blocks are describing the gender but not the sex of the character in question?The gender is literally in the "job description".Whose description though?It's literally like the third thing on the stat block.
Right after name and CR, and right before race, class, and level.:)
I was *mostly* making a joke.
But to answer seriously, I'm not sure whether the stat block is supposed to give the character's sex or gender -- I'll have to wait until I get home to check out the stat blocks of some NPCs that we know have a mismatch between the two.
I will say that I run and play in several games with non-gender-binary PCs. Generally, their players prefer to keep it very much incidental, meaning no big fights with bigots and stuff like that. They like settings where it just isn't that big a deal.
That said, I don't think there's a wrong way to do it. In my Age of Worms PbP, we started out with a genderfluid dwarf. Now, in all fairness, he died in the second encounter.
Because it's Age of Worms.
But while she was around, Erip's gender identity was a fairly present aspect of her character. Not critical, mind—she was a necromancer first and foremost—but there were interesting dynamics in how certain PCs just decided she was this gender or that gender, and in which ones worked out that the answer was basically "both and none of the above".
But seriously, who dumps Con in Age of Worms?
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Here are some suggestions for you and your player for ways they can make the character's gender identity an important characteristic while also being largely a roleplaying aspect which can come up or not as needed. I'll note that all my characters are nonbinary, like myself, so this may be more general than specifically agender, but much of it can be adapted to meet the specific gender in question.
1. Worshipper of Arshea. Arshea is a NG Empyreal Lord of freedom, physical beauty and sexuality. Arshea is depicted as male and female alike, embodying the most attractive physical aspects of the aforementioned genders, but always shown as androgynous. Almost like Desire of the Endless but with less wanton cruelty.
2. Dwarven Rivethun. The Rivethun are specifically Dwarven transfeminine individuals who keep the ancient lore. Shardra, the iconic Shaman, is an example. They fill a similar role as Two-Spirit individuals in many Indigenous American cultures--their role is to lead the cultural and spiritual development of their people, but they typically hold no allegiance to the Dwarven pantheon, instead revering the stone itself. Do they not want to play a Dwarf? What about someone with the "Adopted" trait, who was abandoned on the mountain and found by a Rivethun matron? Perhaps they're not Rivethun themself, but what happens to a child raised without heavy emphasis placed on being male or female?
3. Changelings are always assigned female, but that doesn't mean they have to actually be women. Hags are matriarchal, after all, and value femaleness. What happens to a Changeling who transitions, or an agender Changeling who feels no connection to gender at all?
4. Faegender comes up in fantasy settings sometimes, especially among fey-oriented races like gnomes or elves. It's a gender which literally changes with the seasons, often incorporating aspects we associate with them, such as more masculine in autumn/winter and more feminine in spring/summer. I have a faegender gnome actually, and fae is my favorite character to play--it fits in with the gnomish love of change so well, and just really works with the character.
Oh, the shaman iconic is another good example of a character for whom gender identity is important, but not "invasive", as some have termed. It's an important aspect of her backstory that she's trans—her entire direction in life was changed due to the cancellation of her betrothal, after all—but there's obviously much more to her than just being transgender.
4. Faegender comes up in fantasy settings sometimes, especially among fey-oriented races like gnomes or elves. It's a gender which literally changes with the seasons, often incorporating aspects we associate with them, such as more masculine in autumn/winter and more feminine in spring/summer. I have a faegender gnome actually, and fae is my favorite character to play--it fits in with the gnomish love of change so well, and just really works with the character.
I think this concept is really interesting and evocative. Is it a canon thing in Golarion?
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Oh, the shaman iconic is another good example of a character for whom gender identity is important, but not "invasive", as some have termed. It's an important aspect of her backstory that she's trans—her entire direction in life was changed due to the cancellation of her betrothal, after all—but there's obviously much more to her than just being transgender.
4. Faegender comes up in fantasy settings sometimes, especially among fey-oriented races like gnomes or elves. It's a gender which literally changes with the seasons, often incorporating aspects we associate with them, such as more masculine in autumn/winter and more feminine in spring/summer. I have a faegender gnome actually, and fae is my favorite character to play--it fits in with the gnomish love of change so well, and just really works with the character.I think this concept is really interesting and evocative. Is it a canon thing in Golarion?
I don't see why it wouldn't be any more-or-less canon than say, genderqueer, agender, bigender, etc. It's not specific to Golarion, no, but it's not from a copyrighted fantasy text or anything either.
Ah, I see what you're saying.
@Robin-Sidh: i love the ideas the suggestions you gave! I really want to play a transman changeling now :3
Also: the Reign of Winter AP has a lesbian couple, where one of the women is trans (she transitioned due to the power Baba Yaga's womanhood). I also love Arshea- in fact, many of the Empyreal Lords don't have a specified gender, which I love!
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My group's about to start a new module, and I have a player interested in portraying a gender neutral/agendered character. I'm totally down with that, but unfortunately it's not an experience I know much about. I've started poking around the internet for perspectives and advice, but I always wanted to see if any Paizo folks had direct experience in this area.
This was a recent conversation, so we haven't fleshed the idea out a ton yet. However, I get the sense the player wants gender identity to be an important part of their character, but not something that's super up front or "in your face" (their words)
From the GM side, I'm unsure of things like terminology, pronoun use, or NPC reaction. My default is to treat folks like folks, and Paizo/Golarion do an excellent job of reinforcing that point! At the same time I, and by extension the world I'm portraying, would like to honor this character choice. I would like the world and its inhabitants to acknowledge this choice and incorporate it in an authentic, respectful way.
In summary, I'm unfamiliar with this subject, so any advice or experience is helpful!
If your player is really serious about wanting to do this well, and your group is great on roleplaying, I would encourage them to visit a Pride center and get to know some real people. The applicable terms they might be looking for would be genderfluid or gender ambiguous.
As far as pronouns go, I would suggest your player google up the term "Singular They".
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@Robin-Sidh: i love the ideas the suggestions you gave! I really want to play a transman changeling now :3
Also: the Reign of Winter AP has a lesbian couple, where one of the women is trans (she transitioned due to the power Baba Yaga's womanhood). I also love Arshea- in fact, many of the Empyreal Lords don't have a specified gender, which I love!
Thanks! The best part of constants is finding out what breaks them--and adventurers should be ones breaking the mold, so why not transmasculine Changelings? And Arshea is the absolute best.
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Oh dang, this kinda blew up.
Thanks for the thoughts, perspectives, and advice, particularly from those of you who brought your lived experiences to bear. I'll probably follow up in PM on specifics, given that the thread's gone a bit off the rails.
Plenty for both me and the player to consider and talk about. We very much appreciate it!
Well, best of luck!
So I have some new thoughts about gender and gender identity that I would like to express just to get some responses.
I feel like the idea of male/female gender identity versus an agender identification really gets at the idea of defying stereotypes of each gender. When I hear the idea of someone saying they are agender, what I hear is "I don't subscribe to the sterotypes of being male or female".
And if that is the case then I think that's all well and good. I think sterotyping people into certain types of behavior based on things like gender isn't useful as no one would fit all those sterotypes. Of course, people do sterotype everyone as it's human nature it probably can't be avoided or eliminated. However, I would prefer the concept of gender as a construct of social behavior attached to those words not exist at all.
For me, I try to only think of male/female and man/woman in terms of what it means as a biological characteristics, since those things can be relevant in different situations.
Maybe I'm missing the point of it all.
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So I have some new thoughts about gender and gender identity that I would like to express just to get some responses.
I feel like the idea of male/female gender identity versus an agender identification really gets at the idea of defying stereotypes of each gender. When I hear the idea of someone saying they are agender, what I hear is "I don't subscribe to the sterotypes of being male or female".
And if that is the case then I think that's all well and good. I think sterotyping people into certain types of behavior based on things like gender isn't useful as no one would fit all those sterotypes. Of course, people do sterotype everyone as it's human nature it probably can't be avoided or eliminated. However, I would prefer the concept of gender as a construct of social behavior attached to those words not exist at all.
For me, I try to only think of male/female and man/woman in terms of what it means as a biological characteristics, since those things can be relevant in different situations.
Maybe I'm missing the point of it all.
In the interest of not cluttering this particular thread any further, I won't respond here, but if it's something you are interested in learning more about (and how it can manifest biologically and socially across people and cultures in the real world), PM me. I can certainly answer some questions, at least, and provide some real-world specifics.